p.m. eastern the pandemic story. best seller michael lewis writes about early warning science of the covid-19 pandemic and trump administration's response. watch booktv this weekend on c-span2. now with senate conference sub committee looks how tourism and hospitalityy industry had been impacted by the covid-19 pandemic. professionals from the industry answer questions on several topics including the need for further investment into the industry. shortages impactth of business travel, and the importance of consistent messaging from government agencies regarding covid-19 protocols.

>> good afternoon. and welcome to today's hearing and investing in america's tourism andy' hospitality work force and small businesses. today we'll examine the state of the tours and hospitality work force in wake of the covid-19 pandemic. as well as the experiences and challenges of the tourism and hospitality related small businesses and those businesses outside the industry who nonetheless depend on travel and tourism to bring in customers we'll also review visual impact on the communities that rely on tourism and hospitality work force, and receive insight on how congress can support workers and small businesses as the travel and tourism industry recovers. u.s. hotel and hospitality industry continues to experience the fear pandemic related impacts and consequently so do

the workers and that industry. for nevada, business almost 25% of our work force. prior to the pandemic in 2019 nevada job market exhibited time of strength with the seasonably adjusted unemployment rate of around 3% over 1% unemployment rate among workers covered by unemployment insurance. however, by mid-march of 2020, as a world began seeing the impacts of the public health crisis, situations started to change dramatically. our seasonablied adjusted unemployment rate rose to over 6.followed by a steep in unprecedented increase to 30% to april of 2020 highest unemployment rate in the nation i02 may add. but for two weeks in march initial unemployment claims increase just over 6,000 over 92,000. this significant rise in

unemployment in nevada in part reflects our state's reliance on leisure and hospitality employment in the state economy. tourism drives most of the demand in the hospitality industry and covid-19 estimated tourism. at the onset of the crisis, nevada leisure and hospitality sector was the largest contradict tore to wage salary employment. february 2020 excuse me the leisure hospitality sector employed over 356,000 workers in the state with an overall population of just a little over 3 million. taken together, this state suggest that workers and leisure hospitality have probably born the brunt of unemployment in nevada. according to the bureau of labor statistics nationwide leisure and hospitality lost 2.8 million jobs during the pandemic that have yet to return. emthis represents more than 25%f all unemployed persons in the

united states. and 99% of businesses in nevada that are small businesses have also struggled particularly minority ownin small businesses who are far too often disproportionately impacted economic slowdown and left behind in economic recovers. i've made support for workers and small businesses one of my. top priorities during the pandemic. and i callve on my colleagues he today to not lose sight of the fact that this has been an uneven recover one in which small businesses and workers in the hardest hit state will continue to need our help as we haveue fully a pandemic. we will build back better. but it is going take time and it is going to take investment. industry in nevada are starting to coming back statewide leisure and hospitality industryrt is only t 7 0% of precovid-19 levels down more than 106,000 jobs. the strong and robust presence of organized labor in nevada

directly aids the recovery for workers compared to other states in the mountain west nevada has maintained a realtively higher rate of immunization in recent years according to bureau of labor statistics in 2019 more than 14.of employed workers in nevada belong to unions. which is an increase of 2.5% point over 2016 level and much higher than nationwide figure of just over 10%. funions in nevada help to impre quality employment relationships and working conditions, you know as a college student coming home for summer i was a member of nevada culinary workers union work where i waited at tables and grateful for the job that helped me pay for my college tuition and you know culinary workers union is largest private sector union in nevada it representse approximately 60,00 workers. and organizes the main casino and hotel properties on the las

vegas strip a and downtown, represents house coopers, bar tenders, many others, culinary workers union spent a lifeline for the hospitality work force in nevada, and the fact the very last in person meeting i took in capitol hill pfer we close our offs in march was with mr. d. taylor president of unit here and union which nevada is affiliated i'm pleased to have him here testifying as an expert witness. mr. taylor, and unite here have gone above and beyond during pandemic to support workers they represent, even running their own food bank and local economy was in the most dire situation. in the early month of the pandemic, when 98% of the more than 300,000 workers were out of work mr. taylor and the unions stood by their members and i will look forward to his testimony here today about how we get tourism and hospitality moving again.

also testifying virtually today to share their expertise insight and recommendations we have nevada own shawn dell newsom chair of the urban chamber of commerce works to provide access to locals, national, and global markets for small and diverse businesses in southern nevada. and in addition we're pleased to have representatives with us from the following organizations virtually, the florida attraction association which remote and advances the interest of businesses in the attraction industry, and world travel holdings leisure company. it is my hope that today's hearing will help us better understand the challenges that small businesses and the hospitality work force challenges that they face as a result ofe, depressed business d leisure travel caused by the pandemic. that today's hearing will provide a forum for engaging pdiscussion on how to support workers small businesses as they recover.

thank you all again for being here today. i look forward to hearing each of you share your experiences and expertise, and now i'm going turn it over to ranking member scott, for his opening statement and then we'll introduce our witnesses. senator scott. >> yeah i want to thank chair rosen for hosting this hearing today. i want to thank all of our witnesses for being with us and sharing your perspective. there's a lot that is pursue las vegas has in common with this state of florida we're very much depend on tour eu678 industry and i know we have four wonderful witnesses today that are going talk about impact had on our small business and we're going to thank phil looper for testifying today ensuring from florida small business and their employees. florida like las vegas is a global travel destination. people from all over the world come to enjoy our beefs attractionings and all our state has to offer when i was governor we work hard to grow our tourism industry and grow it from 80

million by time i left to 16million impacted each of us in small businesses differently and adapt to make sure our family, businesses and employees stay safe. unfortunately covid-19 pandemic has severely hurt florida travel and tourism industry come with chain of impact on our restaurant, small business and families and i know chair rosen seen same thing in las vegas and nevada. i'm glad to see that florida has been open for business again. but in order for our state and nation to fully reopen an get our economy become on track we have to continue to wok together. been hearing from many of our small businesses and in florida struggling to find workers to fill their open jobs because they're competing with enhanced federal unemployment benefits. ive supported targeted aid for struggling families and businesses but i've been clear. that the federal government should not be paying america's state home to go back to work. glad to see governors across nation are taking action to get

their assistance back to work. i'm also on a bell with several of my colleagueses to phase out this into work. i'll always work to support our small businesses get americans back to work and economy fully open and also have to make sure we help those that -- that still need our help. also been very focused on getting safe and our cruise line operation something that hopefully a lot of people from las vegas enjoy but we about don't see many cruises from las vegas. some of our businesses and workers that rely on cruise industry have been left at a stand still for over a year now waiting for this cdc guidance and while so many industries have reopened you can go to our restaurants, you can go to amusement park and stay in hotel but cdc made it difficult for cruise industry to get started again and cdc finally answered my call call of my colleagues to gethe things moving in right direction for cruise industry can get back to work. but this cdc unfortunately treated cruise industry terribly

over past year and i'll continue my fight and work with the cdc to make sure to reach a quick and equitable solution that keeps people safe. they want to cruise, employees and protect jobs in florida and i know there's job in las vegas tied to cruise industry and all across our nation. as nation works to recover from the coronavirus and get our economy back on track, i remain committed to doing everything i can to support our travel industry in florida and across the united states. look forward tous hearing from l of our witnesses i want to thank again thank chair rosen for organize it thisse hearing. and inviting witnesses she's invited, and all of us want to understand how covid-19 has impacted our industries and how we can help them succeed so thank you, thanks again chair rosen. >> thank you and you can cruise on lake tahoe and mead it is not the same as caribbean cruise. but -- but you can have a nice dinner cruise on both of those so thank you senators scott i would like to introduce i our first witness

who is testifying with us remotely today. taylor is international president of unite here. over four years in the labor experience in the labor movement, mr. taylor has successfully organized labor negotiationsla throughout the country and helped grow the culinary union in nevada with current membership level of nearly approximately 60,000 members nationally unite here currently represents over 300,000 active union members who work at various role it is in the hospitality industry. hotel, food industry food and casinos. mr. taylorwa you no recognized r your opening remarks. >> first, i want to thank you senator rosen, senator scott it is a real honor and privilege to actually speak in front of y'all. hopefully this will be the last hearing that i have to be involved with because -- i'm sure everybody else we're

tired of zoom. so we represent over 300,000 members throughout the united states and canada. at the beginning of the pandemic 98% of our workers were laid off and even today, 50 to 60.are still not working. first in the gaming industry, employment has increased more in the gaming industry. but still it's far behind than what it was before the pandemic. in atlantic city, we have about 75% of our members back. in ohio about 75. detroit about 65. mississippi about 65. las vegas a little over 50% and in new orleans 32%. and some of reasons why our workers are not back here is because -- casinos have moved to eliminate a fair amount of food and beverage jobs and also changes

housekeeping. and food service -- the employment there for example airline catering we have about 70% of workers back but that's really been paid through the cares act funding. in traditional cafeteria only aboutfu 55%. in airport confession when is people come through only about 45%. inio stadiums in arenas, less tn 40.. and bank convention centers 5% or less and there's real concern there about those jobs will come back. because that involves both large and employers and in hotel employment, there's really a buy per kaition and some of those leisure markets like florida, arizona, and hawaii we're starting to return back to precovid levels. but not where it was.

but those relying on group international travel, numbers are so far below what it was before the pandemic that it is affected ability to people to come back to work. now we have a concern too in the last two downturns after nech and great recession. some became permanent, in fact, between 2001 and 2019, hotel industry employment by room count decreased by 20%. and we have issues which we have found to be perplexing and many cases, we have heard about the inability to get people to come back to work and at the same time, i think some of that has been caused by the inability of canes companies say you have the right to be recalled as we all

know older workers that are terminated who one in ten will earn much less than what they earned previously. and so on one hand we have -- a cry for workers and other hand just the basic idea of somebody who has been with a company 20 or 30 years, has to start off as a new hire somewhere you can understand that quandary in fact here in las vegas we have that problem where -- station casinos fired 7,000 workers so they have to start all over again. even if you've been with a company 20 or 30 years. self-contracting united airlines got enormous amount of money from the payroll support program 7.7 billion from the government and now they're looking to subcontract all kitchens with no guarantee of work or benefits, and service cuts. many hotel owners have been extremely aggressive about this. like for example to end daily room cleaning and so for example, the ceo of park hotels

the biggest private sector of owner hiltons have said they want to have a permanent reduction of full-time hotel level staffing. so on one hand we have companies that have really done the right they think i want to point out one from florida, and one from nevada and florida disney for example, has done tremendous work. they extended health care benefits for all of their employees throughout this pandemic. and loaded up all of the unemployed people into the florida system. which is everybody knows is some serious issues in nevada winged resort stepped up completely on continue to pay people and also extend benefits so we're worried about the future and at the same time we think there's a lot that needs to be done to get back on our feet. both with companies and workers. thank you so much. senator rosen, and scott. >> thank you mr. taylor for your

insights. into the hospitality work force, and into our states and important cities. and so now i would like to turn it over to senator scott to introduce our next witness. senator scott. >> of florida attractions represents over 120 theme parks. and tourist attractions in florida these i had pleasure to work with bill when i was governor. he -- he and a lot of others who they bring a lot of visitors to our state. so welcome bill i look forward to hearing from you. >> thank you, senator. good afternoon chairman rosing rank scott and thank you for your leadership in addressing the pandemic devastating economic damage specifically to the nation's hardest hit sector travel tourism honored to participate in this hearing and investigating america's tourism and hospitality work force and small business.

founded in 1949, the florida attractions association or other faa, is part of trade association representing the tourist attraction industry. florida heritage is a vacation land evolved through decades as our state national wonders attract visitors from around world our state manmade attractions have evolved from road side attractions to now world most popular theme park destinations. today the faa compromised of over 250 member bidses state forest attractionings members, however, most of our members are small business. and only 10% of our members are publicly traded companies many of our have fourth owner operators of families attractions and 40% of our members have annual paid attendance of 100,000 guests florida nonessential businesses including attractions closed around march 15th of last year. and less time actions of congress to provide support and

relief to small business was a great help. the cares act, paycheck protection program, and sba economic injury disaster loans with a bridge needed to maintain an employee base and cover ongoing expenses through closure. governor began process of res opening florida's businesses in a pathway to reopen florida true economy including attractions by an executive order on may 18th, 2020. and attraction association work with our members and they respect kind of governments just like best practices and tourist attraction environment to provide protection for guests and employees and viral transmission. objective was clear and goal unmistakable. reopening safe, smart and step by step as industry began to reopen, there was initially a trend response ensuring that safety was par mount and staycation season that floridians travel to other florida destinations within a

day's drive of their homes and other facilities are particularly popular national outdoor attractions, such as zoos and garden have benefit of providing fresh air and sunshine. over the last year the general pattern is developed as public trust and travel returns confidence and safety protocols proven and desire to get out to go and inspire americans to travel once again. florida what is seen increasing return of the domestic traveler and while it is not a precovid level, it is i think couraging to see attractions hotels, and restaurants begin to experience recover. our safe tourism marketing office visit florida reported 14% decline in travel in florida in the first quarter of '12*eu compared to '22 and cdc department of other facing with timely guidance under the pandemic. recent changes in the guidance will welcome development to our

members, however, the swiftness of the change left many businesses scrambling to interpret the new guidance that set the impact on businesses. even today guidance from the cdc department of transportation and osha could be used as being conflicting. number two, florida and much of the nation is experience a labor shortage and it is for hospitality industry. we know that many of our members are experiencing both in part because of the continued payment of state unemployment insurance benefits and federal unemployment relief programs. governor desantis directed state to discontinue waiving work search requirement at the end of this month and florida will stop out of florida as florida employment compensation program at the end of next month. entry level labor shortages are not new in. 2019, 28% of teens will participate in u.s. labor force. down 43% from 1978 shortage is striving wages supply and demand

businesses must adapt as they compete for talent. but one of the park discovered that wages aren't the answer. this year offered a 100.increase from ten to 20 dollars per hour and still having to reduce operating hours and close due to labor shortages. the number three as discussed in last hearing cruise industry i have no direct professional role in is still waiting for clear guidance from cdc and cruise industry in the attractions industry are fierce competitors but we need each other to achieve our individual and collective business octaves. addressing these issues along with your support of brand usa to help us mo tourism economy forward prepare for post success thank you for your leadership and supporting america's hospitality workers and small business i look for the to working you and answering your questions. thank you. >> thank you mr. looper testifying next, is shawn dell

newsom chairman of the urban chamber of commerce. mr. new in is ten year veteran of the u.s. air force and a small business owner for the past 15 years. throughout personal work and urban chamber of commerce connects small business owners with resources and access they need to both regional and global markets. mr. newsom you're recognized for your opening remarks. thank you of the subcommittee i'm shawn dell newsom nevada small business owner founder of firm and partnership of with my wife arlene and daughter teara and family own business of the year. currently i share the las vegas urban chaimg beer of commerce cohair small business for america's future. serve as a trustee for the las vegas chamber of commerce and co-chair for the henderson

chamber economy endangered and involved in small and minority business communities. today i'm here to speak directly to investing in america's tourism and hospitality work force and small business. and i want to thank senator rose and a true small business champion for this opportunity to address you. after serving decade in military i work for a gaming and hospitality family owned small business nation casino in nevada as a marketing director. this was where i connected the dots between work force and small businesses. not only did we hire thousands of employees with growth, but our local small businesses also benefited from our needs to procure prungts and services. we purchase balloons, t-shirts, signage and many products and services from local small business venders las vegas strip casinos produce many jobs and procurement opportunities for small businesses. but i know that many of you

outside of nevada may not realize that there are small casino operate force like henderson rainbow and island with my friend tim brooks as owner, and poca palace owned by laura and mickey in north las vegas they have served the community since before i arrived in 1987 to the air force base yes i know -- these small business owners personally. despite being entertainment capitol of the world and global destination las vegas in particular southern nevada a small tight community. when one business is in a tight community feels burden, we all feel a burden. the impact of a decrease in business and leisure travel is felt from our major corporation to the smallest main street companies. contracts for my company and many others were either delayed or canceled immediately causing instant closures and much uncertainty. small business owners have to

reach into our bag of innovative tricks to survive. school and day care closures put our employees in a bad position. once we were clear to open again, with social distancing our firm decided to create office space for children to attend school remotely given their parents comfort and peace of mind. the new normal meant that we had to be flexible with team members working remotely with alternating days in office to keep everyone safe. we followed the science and survived with no major concern. ....

to rebuild our economy. in addition we should all push all of our trips to the middle of the table on the american jobs plan. to rebuild our infrastructure and create necessary jobs for individuals and contracts for small businesses. thank you very much for realizing the importance of the tourism travel and hospitality industry and small business. we are all winners when we invest wisely this way. thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. newsome for your remarks on tourism and small business, the nexus between the two. senator scott i will turn over to you to introduce our fourth and final witness, please. >> thank you chair rosen. the daily, senior vice president world travel holdings this would represent world travel holdings.

he began working for the company as a travel agent. now he runs their dream vacations cruise want and cruise inc. divisions and also serves on the star board which is a steering committee for the cruise lines international association. welcome, drew. >> thank you, senator scott. thank you for your efforts to bring attention to the devastating economic impacts of the travel and tourism industry. it's a true on that premise represent world travel holdings, dream vacations travel advisors and the broader travel advisor command across the united states. travel agents do, in fact, exist and over the years they have evolved into travel advisors. travel advisors play a critical role in working with clients to plan travel for business and leisure purposes. today the entire travel industry comprises tens of thousands of travel advisors are running their own businesses, majority

work from home at her literally building to business into neighborhoods, backyards and communities. at dream vacations we spoke thousands of small business owners around the country. we took a chance and had a dream to start a business and create something that was their own. some have been doing it for more than 30 years and quite a few started their business in the midst of the pandemic. all travel advisors earn a living based on what they sell the customers and they get paid when the customers actually travel. one tourism sector that is especially important to travel advisors is the cruise industry. 78% of all cruise vacations are booked by a travel advisor in the industry. more than 70% of the cruise bookings made today are set to depart in 2022 or later which means these businesses will not get paid largely for another year. despite industry-leading protocols and proven savings and

other breaches of what has it has been almost 60 months since cruise ships depart from this ports impacting the lives of tens of thousands small business owners. cruise is the only travel and tourism sector in the united states still shut down. thank you so much for your support in the passage last week at the alaska tourism restoration act and we were thrilled to see yesterdays signing of the bill by president biden. alaska is a critical cruise market not just in terms of cruise bookings but the jobs supported by the business to the state. my written testimony outlined the devastating impacts of the travel industry but here are a few statistics. the reduction in travel caused by covid-19 resulted in $500 billion loss in travel spending across the united states in 2020. with 5.6 million travel supported jobs lost, accounting for 65% of all jobs lost in the country. the cruise industry represents 39 billion in total economic

losses including the loss of 300,000 jobs along with 16.5 billion in wages. we have seen a number of our travel advisors shift gears and do the best to make a living during this downturn. in florida one of our top franchise had to go back and become a school nurse and another got a job at a local grocery store. in nevada one resorted to becoming an uber driver and to be delivering uber eats just the food on the table. washington state with several franchises partner with local businesses in their communities to do virtual winetasting event just to maintain relevance while they can travel. congress can help the travel and tourism sector recover by enacting policies to spur travel demand at support workers who are not yet fully participating in our country's economic recovery. we are so grateful for the strong economic support provided by the cares act and subsequent relief packages approved by congress. relief packages like the

paycheck protection program provided much-needed lifelines to many of the small businesses and workers in the travel and tourism sector. every week my team and i have individual conversation with small business owners and the stories we hear are heartbreaking at sam's life that are on the line. we anticipate many travel advisors could suffer financial hardship the next year as they continue to book in the future. with the paycheck protection program set to expire in may i ask you consider extending targeted relief programs for sectors it will take longer to recover it finally, the return of cruising out of the u.s. is a vital step. the biggest hurdle for the continued success of our travel advisors is a cruising at all forms of travel to come back full throttle. thank you again for the opportunity to testify to the upper half of the travel advisor community. your efforts to support the rebuild a recovery or travel and tourism and the many small businesses that are critical to

the sector are greatly appreciated. i promised travel advisors are going to play a key role in helping get americans probably begin in boosting economic recovery across the entire country. we need to ensure these businesses and their workers can survive the remaining challenges presented by the pandemic over all. thank you and i look forward to hearing your questions. >> thank you, mr. daley. and again want to thank all of our witnesses for joining today and for their thoughtful opening statements. i'm going to start it off with a question to mr. newsome about small businesses and then move on to mr. taylor to talk about a hospitality workforce. over the past year nevada small businesses particularly the businesses who depend on our tourism and hospitality industry for the customers of course we know they struggle to keep the doors open to the covid-19. in response congress passed numerous small business support programs, paycheck protection program, the restaurant

revitalization fund will help small businesses stay afloat and keep their workers on the payroll. unfortunately ppp ran out the funds on may 4, and just yesterday the restaurant revitalization fund stopped taking new applications. the hospitality and tourism being slower to recover than other industries, additional limited targeted relief may be needed into business and leisure travelers in both the u.s. and abroad have the confidence to travel once again. mr. newsome, as a tourism and hospitality industry slowly recovers on the economic impact of this public health crisis, what additional support do you think congress could provide to our small businesses and what investments do you think we might make more broadly going forward? would want a healthy recovery and a robust one, and watches about everything you are working on. >> thank you very much, senator rosen. one of the things is with

important is continuing to provide access to capital to small and minority businesses. as we know systemically that is been a challenge especially for most of our minority owned firms. we found even prior to the pandemic it was very, very difficult to get access to capital. opening up cdfi and opening up alternative lending resources have been very beneficial to small businesses. the other thing is broadband. as you know in nevada we have a lot of rural businesses, and really they have a challenge with some of these soon calls and different opportunities to do business online -- zoom calls. that section important and one of the things, the other thing i mentioned was a child care. i know a lot of my employees and people are members of the chamber, they were not only challenge with going back to work, rather, the employees were not just challenge with any

funding from a package or from unemployment but a lot of them were struggling with child care and what they do with their children to keep them safe. i would say that those are one of the crucial but in particular for small business owners, continue to fund the small business development centers, continue to fund the resources that help small businesses, small business owners to become better operators of the business. i was fortunate to spend time in the military. i was fortunate and blessed to work in gaming and hospitality, and i learned a lot from those industries. not everybody has that opportunity. so i think that is a great opportunity there. and then the last thing that i say is real important is the healthcare cost. it's important we help small businesses have an opportunity to provide affordable health care for their employees as well

as try to defray the cost to make sure we're not spending all of our money on healthcare where we should be providing most of the money to our employees and helping to provide better services to our clients and our customers. what's important is don't forget small businesses. small businesses are the backbone of this country. we bring people back to work faster. we do a lot so we do appreciate what has happened but there's a lot more to be done. thank you. >> that's a good segue. thank you to mr. taylor because earlier this year the american rescue plan covered senator cortez masto and i worked diligent to make sure 100% of cobra insurance was covered during the pandemic. people lost their jobs through no fault of their own and we really secured debt. we know how important it was to our culinary workers, to all union members and just workers across this country.

just a few seconds i have let people go into a second round of course. can you talk about the impact that fully subsidized cobra health benefits and on your members and hospitality and tourism industry? >> yes, senator rosen. i think that's one of the keys that is help people survive, 100% cobra. so today is going to allow members to get back on health insurance. in our industry, basically a lot in the hospitality industry, only 24% of employers continue to provide health care benefits. so in the middle of a healthcare pandemic we had people losing healthcare. so this has been a huge plus under the american rescue plan. we are enrolling people now your kits for six months. and broadly if i was looking ahead about what congress can

do, even -- [inaudible] they often have to recall -- continuing the -- [inaudible] right when we were set down, right in the middle of the healthcare pandemic we had people losing healthcare. that seemed counterintuitive for just basic reasons. i can't think of anything more impactful that came under the american rescue plan than the 100% cobra subsidy. >> thank you, mr. taylor. senator cortez masto and i were glad to work on that. so senator scott your regular. >> thank you chair rosen. so mr. lupfer, can you talk about we heard i think from mr. taylor and mr. newsome some of the challenges that they have had with labor shortages. can you talk about some of the

issues your industry has had with labor shortages? >> yes, thank you, senator. labor shortage is not an issue that's new to us in florida. the tourism industry has grown tremendously as popular has grown a lot of the population growth we see in florida is retirees. it's interesting, senator, when you were governor you doubled, you increase tourism promotion by 15% we ended up netting a 50% increase to to the state of florida. certainly the economics of continuing to drive visitors to the sunshine state has put even more strain on the labor market. it also has affected wages. that's not something is even talked about anymore, but

employers are paying significantly more than minimum wage. one of the things that's interesting is the fact that teenagers are less and less inclined to participate in summer jobs. traditionally in america summertime was time you go back and get the job and earn a few bucks and learn some skills and accept some responsibility, but there some interesting statistics from the bureau of labor statistics that illustrate that less and less teens are participating in the labor force. force. another thing that's affecting us right now is the inability for the department of state to -- visas for the summer workforce program. and typically there's about 100,000 international students that come into the united states to participate in learning more about america, our economy and our culture while working during

the summertime. we are fortunate this year only about 5000. there's a lot of things contributed to that. it's not necessarily an issue, not necessarily an issue with covid and with the pandemic. it's really a sea change in america in population and what types of features people looking for. our industry the tourism and travel industry needs to do a better job demonstrating and telling our story, why particularly entry-level jobs in tourism and travel are important. in fact, statistics from u.s. travel association demonstrate people's first job in tourism by age 50 in the earning more per year than those who started their careers in healthcare or manufactured or other industries. it's a great entry-level opportunity at a think the best opportunity is to get more young people excited and interested in

the future in hospitality industry. >> thank you, mr. lupfer. mr. daly, can you talk but how many jobs rely on the cruising industry directly and indirectly in the united states and in florida? and what your estimated timeline is for all those jobs to return and you believe they will return? >> thank you for the question, great question. so yes, i do think as we are seeing -- we have signs coming up right now to rebuild and recovery. of course a major with recent announcements towards alaska, about 300,000 jobs were jobs were impacted in 2020 from the industry due to the pandemic. i do believe based on what we are seeing, obviously the goal is returned to normal and what that looks like. i can say that in 2022 and in the future the demand for cruising and the response to it from consumers and from the local advisors and their communities it's never been greater. it's going to be a thunderous

return and ultimately with that will come back the jobs and, of course, it impacts more than the jobs within the cruise industry per se but affect hospitality and all the local areas and cities where cruises sail from around the united states, and is well into other markets, too. >> do you believe both customers, passengers and workers can come back to the cruise industry and operate safely? >> without a doubt. i mean, safety and health protocols have been never e important to the cruise industry. they always have been at a think the enhancements they've had over the past 16 months understand the science. what we've been saying in her own backyards people used to show pictures when someone is traveling eating a meal another showing pictures pictug a seat at an airport or at a hotel. ultimately what we are seeing and what we will see is the

safety protocols, the cruise lines partners with chris on international association to ensure they are working with the experts, working with science, finding the right solution so they can safely return to service with social distancing protocols and, of course, with the recent vaccinations and roll out vaccination success of the united states. that would be significant factor in the safe return to cruising. >> thank you, mr. daly. thank you chair rosen. >> thank you mr. daly. senator klobuchar is here and we will give her a moment to get into her seat and then she will ask the next question. she's been kind enough to join us here in person even though so much of our hearings have been remote because of code. so we're happy to see area. senator klobuchar. >> well, thank you very much, chairwoman, and for your great work in nevada and across the country when it comes to tourism

as well as thank you so much, senator scott. i know that last week you had a hearing on international tourism, and really, really important topic. senator blunt and i lead the brand usa reauthorization, and i guess i would start with that, with you, mr. lupfer. in your testimony he emphasized the importance of that when it comes to international travel in one recent report found that if international travel does not begin to reopen soon, the u.s. is projected to lose 175 billion in spending by the end of 2021. can you talk about the importance of the role of brand usa? in the past and what we need to do going forward. >> thank you, senator klobuchar. yes, if you think about tourism marketing there's three buckets. there is a local level which is a county and your state level and the national level.

for a long time the united states was without a travel tourism marketing office. and at this point our come even the smallest members are able to participate in international marketing because committed by working with -- working with your state office that is then working with our national office at brand usa. to take those dollars collectively and to spread the good news, the destinations america has to offer. the united states is an incredible country, and our history and our culture and our natural resources are not like anything else in the world even though we are a relatively small country. i am amazed at the international travels and what interests them and what excites them are things that locals can't take for granted. show them an alligator and their day is made. show me an alligator and its

roadkill. so what attracts international is so different, and what the team at brand usa are able to offer is an incredible opportunity for all members of the united states tourism and travel community to participate in sharing the story of america with people around the world. >> thank you, yes. we may not have alligator in minnesota. we do have wildlife. with that i'm going to turn it over to my good friend mr. taylor. how are you, mr. taylor? >> senator, thank you. >> okay good. i want to ask you about business travel. because the hotel industry is expected to be down 500,000 jobs by the end of 2021, partly due to predicted permanent changes in business travel.

so even as we get out of this pandemic there's going to be this even longer transition when it comes to business travel. could you talk about that problem? one report found half of u.s. jt hotel rooms are projected to remain empty in 2021. that's about that's about 180,000 jobs. what more should we do when it comes to business travel and resolving this problem? >> appreciate the question. a few things. one, i think tax incentives for conventions and/or business traveler should be temporarily look at because in the kind of big hotels in the cities, they rely heavily on business travel. and without that i think that those job protections actually are rosie compared to bleak. second is we are worried about a

jobless recovery in certain cases with the hotel industry because they made it very clear on the earnings calls et cetera about not doing certain things we've always assumed staying in a hotel, i can make a room cleaned by a housekeeper being part of the thing that is enjoyable. and actually charging for that. that's an issue. the following thing is this. i think without any question if you look at almost every major metropolitan area the first, second, third largest industry is a tourism industry. we have to figure out how we do those jobs is just as important as manufacturing jobs, just as important as retail jobs. no one very often talks about hospitality jobs. it's easy to do that in florida or nevada, but even in safe minneapolis-st. paul tourism is a huge part of that downtown area, so i think where to change our dialogue on that and we have to do emotions like that and

incentives like that come like we do in other industries. >> very good. mr. newsome, you want to add anything to that? >> thank you. thank you, senator. i think that d. is right on point when it comes to how we view things. one of the things that are think is really important is the unprecedented partnerships we have created through these tough times. i think that they say adversity creates strange bedfellows but i think in this case strange bedfellows means that all of the organizations come together and work together to help with tourism and help with, and thinking through things than a whole different way. i mean, that's the beauty of entrepreneurship, the beauty of small business is that we think outside of a box in some cases

we don't have a box because we're focused on trying to solve a problem. so i think d. is right on point with his comments. >> very good. thank you very much. appreciate it. >> thank you, senator klobuchar. now joining as the webex senator blackburn. >> thank you so much madam chairman, thank you for continuing to work on this. when you talk about tourism, of course memphis, nashville, east tennessee with the great smoky mountains, which is the most visited park in our several parks system. we have been really hit by this. and as i talk to leaders in the industry, whether it is the tour industry, whether it is the motorcoach industry, whether it is at some of the small businesses in gatlinburg or the support group for concerts, and

what i am hearing is labor shortage. and what i am hearing is the increase in unemployment benefits is having a significant adverse impact on our labor pool. pool. and it's what our governor in tennessee is ending the end of next month, ending a plus in unemployment. so mr. lupfer, am i saying your name right first? >> yes-man, you are. >> okay. talk to me a little bit, i know miami, orlando are very similar in the tourist makeup for the way nashville and the smoky mountains area is. talk to me about how as the industry tries to recover, how are these cities that are event

centric like orlando, like a nashville going to be able to handle these labor pressures. i appreciate you mentioned the summer worker program, the department of state has had. that has impacted us also. so give me just a minute on that issue. >> sure, thank you very much for the question. yeah, the event industry and meetings and conventions is probably one of the two week links for our recovery in florida is that meeting and convention business, and the cycle would be international travel. the facts sort it was only in 14% over last year indicates we have really had a strong domestic recovery already. but the labor shortage is a real problem but yet the federal program in florida has also been of a limited at the end of next month. that will help of the labor

shortages is something that predates the pandemic, and there is, i think one of the messages is there's career opportunity for many do a better job of working with colleges and universities and high schools in careers, career tracks in hospitality and tourism industry. it's a great industry. it's an entrepreneurial industry. it's an industry where you can gain great responsibility, and it's an area that we need to do a better job to bring more people in to be a part of our industry. >> in last week's hearing i mentioned cdc, dhs, dlp need to come together on guidance to open up international travel. i know mr. daly would like to see that happen. i appreciated in your comments you said guidance from cdc, dot and osha can be viewed as conflicting.

i talk a little bit about why it is imperative if the federal agencies get on the same page so we can get this travel opened up. we have cma week that use takes place the first week of june there in nashville, , and it isa big international destination. >> thank you sony reader. the specific conflicts -- thank you, senator. the protocols dealing with the virus, and the cdc cuts comes up periodically updates this chart. the news media uses it to communicate what we are, what safe and what's not safe. the inconsistency between the messaging from the cdc and what the department the department transportation says and finally how osha apparently is chasing with the cdc is doing tried to keep up is unable to.

another website says don't look here, look there. but these of federal agencies need to be -- people going to communicate how to stay safe, let's all be on the same page. >> i could not agree more. mr. newsome, appreciated your testimony about small businesses that contract to the hotels. because a nashville we have a lot of people that provide swag for concerts. some of them will tell you the concert business is 50, 60% of their business for the year. so when that shutdown, they lost most of the revenue. is that what you are saying in nevada? >> yes, absolutely. thank you for the question. one of the things that happens is we forget about hairstylists, the people who are the wardrobe specialists here we forget about some of the small businesses that provide microphones and

different things like that. everybody is impacted from top to bottom wind industry shuts down, and when entertainment goes away, and a happy to say this week we'll talk about entertainment, , life entertainment come back to las vegas. because now that creates so many opportunities come so many jobs. so yes, it out silly did, in fact, a lot of jobs and a lot of small businesses. >> i think those guys that are the guileless stylistt equipment, they are the entire ecosystem. they do the t-shirts, hats. they man the booths. i'm with you. let's get this money back to those small businesses and let's help them get back on their feet. we appreciate it. thank you, madam chairman. >> thank you, senator blackburn. i would like to open it to another round of questioning for us from senator scott.

>> thank you chair rosen. so mr. taylor can you talk about how you for the individuals that a been able to go back how you been able to help your employers create a safe environment, work environment? they are all different but i'm sure it's been difficult. how have you been able to do that? >> thank you, senator scott. the nuance of health and safety, i could not meet the company and industry that did not have huge protocols on health and safety about people going back to work. obviously everyone knows when the rubber meets the road it's different, and i think it varies. certain companies took it quite seriously, because as i said and i'm sure you understand, the quickest way to get people back in our industry to come back is

to feel safe. and what we found, for example, i know the work i did in las vegas for about this issue is we had to explain to everybody, you can't just be safe in one casino of one hotel. you can't just look at -- you also have to look at the customers. that obviously the same message went through to us. i think the best way to get people back at every level is -- and candidly one of the ways to do that is incentivize folks to get vaccinated. if those workers don't want to get vaccinated they have very very regular covid testing because anybody wants to feel safe. i think that's just a on the mental thing. i think as i said earlier, i think disney was example are in

your state, for example. there been some exemplary companies about this. unfortunately there have been some who were not. unfortunately those who are not i think jeopardize everybody else. i think more and more that we can have a level playing field of health and safety, the better off we will be because at the end of the day the hospitality industry relies on two things. what people have income so you go places but also to have the security and feeling of safety. and then finally, not view the workers as a plus i did but even a surface product that brings back loyalty, et cetera, which in no everybody on this call understands very well. sometimes we have companies understand that very well and some do not at all. so appreciate the question, senator scott. >> thanks for what you do.

mr. lupfer, do you believe over the next 12 months the industry you work with is all going to come back and will have all the jobs back that were lost during the pandemic? >> i wish we could get all the workers back actually. that's kind of a problem right now. but here's a little bit of good news at least for the folks here in florida. our spring break easter season was extraordinary. exceeded expectations. we really kind of got caught not anticipating what was going to happen. speaking of small business, we have three privately owned mom and pop attractions that experienced one day all-time attendance records in april of this year. what we're seeing now for the summer is a tremendous demand on florida, coast to coast to

coast, with pre-bookings. this is going to be an exceptional summer season. really feel a thing holding us back is going to belabor but i think a year from now if covid continues to decline and if there's not any additional big outbreaks, and as the world comes back out of this, florida and the united states will be in a great place a year from now. >> they do. thank you chair rosen. >> thank you, senator scott. i have a couple more questions i would like to ask, and so there's been a lot of discussion today about our economy being in full recovery. i want to talk about some of the hardest hit states during this economic crisis in where we stand today. i'm pleased to hear the lord is coming back and some of those businesses have had record attendance. i'm sure that will continue and i hope for that. but over all this recovery has been an even. the bureau of labor statistics

released state-by-state april unemployment numbers just this past friday. according to be a less 21 states still have an unemployment rate of 6% or higher, in six states including the veda are still at 8% or higher. hawaii which is like the veda depends on travel and tourism for its economy is actually the highest at 8.5%. the other end of the spectrum we have a dozen states with the political rate under 4%. that's where nevada was under 3% when the covid crisis it and, of course, we we're not back the yet. given how the recovery is look different in different parts of the country it makes sense it looks different to various senators depending on where their states are, various governors as well. so for my state which relies heavily on tourism and our small businesses supported we still do need that help. last week and the subcommittee we talk about how each of our states has so much that unique

and is beautiful to offer to tourists and visitors. and likewise each of our state is unique in its public health and economic impact of covid-19. covid-19. so it's important to remember we are all impacted by the pandemic, a pandemic related benefits that may not be needed in some parts of the country may still be needed in others as we begin to all recover together. because we have to get everybody on the other side of this crisis. some mr. taylor, with that in mind, i want to ask you a couple of questions. based on your experience and, of course, all of your conversations, number one, how excited are your members to get back to work? number two, what has the federal unemployment meant to those hospitality workers when we're still only as a thank you stated 50% back in las vegas? and so not robustly back yet.

>> i'm somewhat at a loss when you hear people don't want to go back to work. i know when i i talked to our folks there's nothing more they want to do but to go back to work. they don't view this as a temporary job. this is their profession and to have a lot of pride in that. candidly, the standard rates in las vegas have allowed -- can buy home and have we called the american dream. so i think as important, you know, unemployment has been a lifesaver and it's been a lifesaver because no one gets rich on unemployment. the extent of unemployment increase i think even the reserve bank of philadelphia said it's been a huge prevention of frankly homelessness, even though as a know in many major cities that's the problem. it has helped tremendously on that. and bluntly, what you all did on

-- in the cares act and american rescue plan on food insecurity. i never thought in this country i would see the kind of food banks that i have seen. but i know in nevada, as you know, senator, the academy has been having a food bank four days a week since march of last year. they've distributed over 14 tons of food. and, frankly, that keeps on going. when i hear unemployment 8%, i have no idea where they get that number. because as you know in the hospitality industry, , whethert be restaurants, hotels, casinos, concert venues, et cetera, those are not back even in the most optimistic sense and those people are without jobs here so the unemployment and also the money for food and, frankly, the eviction moratorium has been key. key. so i can't thank you enough.

nobody wants any of that stuff. they just want to go back to work. people have pride. they want to work with her hands. they want to meet their customers. they want to see the loyal people come back. so that's the frustrating thing. at the same time you could open up any place in the world but if people don't feel safe there not going to come back. i agree on the international travel. we have had to get international travel moving again. mr. lupfer is exactly right. america's an unbelievable country. you can see the greatest things in the world here, and we want themem to come here but obviousy part of that has to do with safety and i. appreciate all the work you all have done on that, too. >> thanky you. i want to just ask one final question here and it's really to mr. newsome. our pandemic really had an impact on ourur workers of colo,

small business owners. it disproportional impact of certain racial andnd ethnic groups, its consummate and hospitality and leisure. during the great recession that began in 2008, latinos experience some of the highest levels of unemployment because they were heavily concentrated in hospitality and construction jobs two sectors that experienced -- as a 2018 the year from when the most recent data is available, , 32% of latinos, 34% of asians which were employed in leisure and hospitality they suggest workers in these groups are high risk forr unemployment during economc downturns because of what happens to the sectors. immigrant workers, they have been traditionally been mainstays for many of these occupations come have also been disproportionally impacted. so as you are chair of the urban chamber of commerce mr. newsome, how are minority-owned businesses working to ensure

that workers of color and the hospitality and tourism industry have not left behind and you talked about it a little bit, specific things we may do and some of this community to be sure that we keep our small business is growing every which way we can? >> i give very much for that, senator rosen. as you note 2008 i eight i was grossly impacted by losing 60% of my business which we spent a lot of time working with construction firms and working with and hospitality industry. one of things that's really important is to keep investing, keep investing in the workforce, keep investing in tourism. really investing in the jobs act because building the infrastructure is really what help navigating make a turn for the better when it came to small and minority firms and when it came to rebuilding our economy.

because as you know we passed a fuel tax. we built a stadium. we build a new convention center. those things brought back jobs. not only that come out of beta state legislature in their wisdom put in the law that 15% % of those contracts would go to small businesses. that was huge because the focus on that has brought back a lot of the workforce, it brought people back from where -- they wanted to work and i agree with d. the people don't want to sit at home. people are not trying to figure out how they can just lay back and relax onn the small amount f support that they receive. they really want to be of the working. they want to work hard. and as you know, senator rosen, the urban chamber of commerce latin chamber and asian chamber in support with our vegas chamber and henderson chamber, these guys all work together. i say what i love about being nevadans can anybody comes close.

close. we are very close knit community. north and south. most people try to divide us but as a nevada community we are in the same boat, and we typically come together to make sure that if the least of us suffers, we make sure that we all chip in. so are minority communities can rebound with the support of these investments and some of the innovation we're talking about, plus it also helps to build our infrastructure. also helps us to build our community and then everybody, everybody working is really what the goal is in getting everybody back to recover together. i call it more than recovery. i call it rebounding. i think rebounding meansui you'e bouncing back. recovery means go back to rework it we need to go better and harder andet stronger than where we were before. >> i like that, we're going to rebound. senator scott come anything else? otherwise i will close at the

hearing. i really want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today for your work, for your passion, for your care, for your states, for your communities and everything that you do. it's so important and we will all rebound together. i really appreciate you all pixel for the record the steering record will remain open for two weeks until tuesday. any senators never liked is a bit for the record should do so by tuesday june 8, 2021. for those of you who testify today we ask that your responses be returned to the committee as quickly as possible and in no case later than two weeks after receipt. that concludes today's hearing. i thank you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> go to c-span.org/coronavirus for the federal response to the pandemic or if you miss our live

coverage is easy to quickly find the latest briefings and the biden administration's response. use interactive gallery fmap to follow the cases in the u.s. and worldwide. go to c-span.org/coronavirus. >> coming up today treasury secretary janet yellen and defense secretary lloyd austin testify on the president's 2022 budget request. you will you will find both hearings live on c-span. on c-span2 the senate returns at 10 a.m. eastern to continue work on a site and technology research bill. senators also about to take up legislation passed by the house that would create an independent commission to investigate the january 6 u.s. capitol attack. and on c-span3 executives from the nation's largest banks testify at house financial services hearing. that gets underway at noon eastern.

>> on sunday june 6 military historian and journalist max hastings will be our guest on "in depth." >> all of saigon, humiliation upon the plans most powerful nation. present revolutionaries wealth and hard work, best ever at which on it at the 29th of april fugitives ascended to a rooftop helicopter, secure the place among the symbolic images. for me as for all my generation of war correspondents, the struggle was among the foremost expenses of our careers. i was one of those who flew out of the u.s. embassy on that tumultuous, terrified they. >> his most recent book is the soon-to-be released operation pedestal. other books include catastrophe, 1914, europe goes to war. chastised, the dam busters story

1943, and overlord, d-day in the battle for normative. join in a conversation with a phone with your phone calls, facebook comment, text and tweets on "in depth" live at noon eastern sunday june 6 with max hastings. be sure to tune in on sunday, july 4 for conversation with harvard university professor and college a prize-winning historian annette gordon-reed on booktv on c-span2. >> now to capitol hill for hearing on the homeland security department 2022 budget. dhs secretary alejandro mayorkas address biden administration plans for cybersecurity and immigration but called violet domestic extremism the most pressing issue for the department. this is about an hour and ten minutes.